Tag: work smarter not harder

Millennials get a bad rap for a number of reasons, some of them justified, others less so.

Among some of the less flattering stereotypes of millennials that exist out there, is the idea that they are entitled, undisciplined, and lack the ambition required to achieve great things in business.

Of course, there’s no reason why millennials can’t become successful entrepreneurs – and, in fact, many are spearheading the charge into the new and exciting world of web-based, location-independent work.

All the same, there are various tips that might be useful for millennials who want to become entrepreneurs, without living out some of the worst stereotypes of their generation.

Here are a few of those tips.

Aim to work smart and hard, in a balanced way – not just to work smart

One trend that commonly repeats on millennial-centered blogs and websites, regarding entrepreneurial work, is the desire to find ways to “work smart” instead of just “working hard.”

This desire to find efficient ways to get more done, in less time, with less effort, is often quite closely connected to the desire to travel the world while working remotely, and living a life of adventure. It’s in stark contradiction to the old idea of an entrepreneur as someone in a suit who never leaves the office, and who doesn’t have a personal life.

Of course, balance is important. Doing nothing but work is not likely to be fulfilling for many people, on a deeper level.

And, it’s also true that finding ways to “work smart” is important in order to maintain peak efficiency, and allow for proper work-life balance.

Don’t, however, fall into the trap of aiming to work “smart” and not work “hard” at all. Instead, aim to work smart and hard, while maintaining balance.

All entrepreneurs have to work hard if they want to be successful. If you don’t, be sure that your competitors will, anyway.

Get the basic infrastructure in place, get started as soon as you can, and stick with it

Often, people are daunted by the idea of setting out on an entrepreneurial path, and are good at procrastinating, making excuses, and drawing the process out forever.

If you actually want to become a successful entrepreneur, though, it’s important to get started as soon as you can, and to dedicate yourself to a process of iterative improvement, done consistently, over the mid and long-term.

If your business needs ATM equipment, buy it. But then, get started, and iron out the kinks as you go along.

Action builds momentum, and provides plenty of learning opportunities. And action combined with endurance can go a long way.

Become your own manager – get used to holding yourself to a schedule and routine

Associated with the general stereotype that millennials don’t like being constrained in their professional lives, is the idea that being an entrepreneur allows you to be completely intuitive and spontaneous with how you structure your time.

Realistically, though, it’s important for you to view the entrepreneur’s life as an injunction to become your own manager, and to hold yourself to a schedule and routine, and not as an excuse to do what you want, when you want.

It’s always much easier to actually achieve things when you have some order in your life.

We hear the term work-life balance a lot these days, but how many of us really achieve it? Probably not enough! In fact, there are still far too many folks that are drained and unmotivated from a life dominated by work efforts and worries. However, help is at hand, as you can follow the tactics below to achieve a better work-life balance. Read on to find out more.

Banish overtime

Staying at the office till 10pm regularly is not only unnecessary it’s dangerous. Do you want to know why? Well, it’s unnecessary because if you are having to put in working days longer than 9 hours on a regular basis, there is something wrong with the business. Maybe they need more staff, or someone else in the team isn’t pulling their weight, but this responsibility should not always be resting on you.

It’s dangerous because, how long do you think you can keep it for without becoming exhausted and demoralized? Even if it’s the most exciting job in the world, people need downtime, rest, and time to spend with their families and friends. Without this, you have a ticket to stress and medical problems that will do neither you nor your company any good in the long term. Leave on time at least 4 nights a week, no arguments!

Streamline processes

Next, a way that you can reduce the dominance of work over the rest of your life is to look at a way of streamlining processes. This streamlining applies to many different too, as you can improve the way things are done in production, in the office, and even on the road.

In particular, look at the way you are using IT within your company, and whether you can minimize the stages and time spent on performing functions in programs like Excel. To do this, you can speak to a from specializing in professional Excel consulting as they will be able to help you get the most from your data, without having to spend hours and hours pouring over it.

Also, take a look at the communion culture in your business as email and instant messages are areas that can often suck up a lot of time unnecessarily.

Use a no message policy if someone is in the same room or building as you. The reason being that it’s way clearer and less time consuming to have that person explain the issue face to face than send 10-20 messages back and forth to get one point clarified.

Have a personal goal to work to

Last, of all, something that can really help you get a good work-life balance is ensuring that you have something to focus on outside of work. A great way to do this is to set yourself a goal in your personal life.

You may pick something that relates to health and fitness, or you can choose to learn a new skill like sailing or speaking French. You may even choose to spend more time with friends and family as your goal. Something that will definitely contribute to a much better work-life balance moving forward.

I have a confession. I’m obsessed with efficiency. I’ve always been a planner. I think about time constantly and when it comes to doing anything…I want to know how to do it smarter, not harder. I don’t mind working hard, but if I can figure out a way to do it faster and better I will.

In this episode I’ll share time saving techniques in the following areas:

How your smartphone can put you on auto-pilot

What system is essential to be a master networker

The difference between habits and goals

Why working smarter beats working harder

What do you do efficiently? In what areas can you improve? Share something that saves you time and it might just help someone else!